Gilbert's remains were found three years ago this Saturday, one year after the bodies of others - many of them also prostitutes - were discovered buried on the beach. The discoveries on the wind-swept and deserted barrier beach made global headlines for more than a year, and police investigated whether they were dealing with a serial killer.
In fact, investigators determined that there may be even two separate killers responsible for 10 bodies found along Ocean Parkway. Search teams found all of them in the hunt for Gilbert, the Craigslist escort who'd disappeared after a date in nearby Oak Beach.
She was last seen when she pounded on Gus Colletti's door begging for help, but she ran into the reeds before he could stop her. Gilbert's decomposed body finally turned up one year to the day after the first bodies did, and merely a few miles away from the now infamous dumping ground. But still, authorities insisted she was not a victim of murder.
They said that during a paranoid episode fueled by drugs and alcohol, she ran into these reeds, tripped and drowned. Lawrence Koblinisky, of John Jay College. Kobilinski says it's likely it is just an outrageous coincidence, even in light of the Medical Examiner's report. The cause and manner of death is undetermined, though Gilbert was missing parts of her fingers and toes and a small bone in her neck.
Her toxicology screening was negative for drugs. Her family says that proves she was in her right mind, that she must have tangled with the Gilgo killer but met her fate as she tried to escape. Kobilinski, though, says the tests actually prove nothing, since Gilbert's body withstood harsh elements for more than a year and a half.
